Romney rallies supporters, pledges bipartisanship

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney carries Levi Vandenberg, five months, of Dover, N.H., after he picked him up from his mother and continued to walk down a ropeline of supporterrs as he campaigns at Portsmouth International Airport, in Newington, N.H., Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012. He later returned the baby to his mother. Ann Romney is seen at left. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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With just three days until the election, Mitt Romney rallied supporters yesterday morning at Portsmouth International Airport, where he urged them to drum up votes from on-the-fence neighbors and pledged to bring bipartisan leadership to the White House.

“Look, I know most of you probably decided who you’re going to vote for already,” the Republican presidential candidate told an estimated 2,000 people gathered on the tarmac on the chilly, gray morning, cheering and waving American flags and pompoms.

But, Romney said, not everyone has decided between him and President Obama. He encouraged the crowd to visit their neighbors, “maybe ones with an Obama sign in front of their home . . . and just remind them of some of the things they may have forgotten.”

Romney, who went on to attack Obama’s record and leadership, spoke for a little less than 15 minutes yesterday in his second-to-last appeal to New Hampshire voters. In a sign of how tight the race might be, the state and its four electoral votes are commanding outsized attention from both campaigns on the eve of the election.

Obama will appear in Concord this morning, rallying with former president Bill Clinton outside the State House. Romney – who embarked for other swing states after yesterday’s rally – will return to the

state tomorrow night, ending his campaign with a rally in Manchester.

Yesterday in Newington, Romney thanked the crowd for its support, saying, “New Hampshire’s going to get me the White House.”

He presented himself as more competent than Obama, who “came into office with so many promises, and he’s fallen so far short,” Romney said.

Obama “said he was going to be the post-partisan president, but he’s been the most partisan, dividing and demonizing,” Romney said. He criticized the president for saying “voting is the best revenge” – a remark Obama made when telling Ohio supporters Friday they should vote instead of booing Romney.

“Vote for revenge?” Romney said. “Let me tell you what I’d like to tell you: Vote for love of country.”

Romney promised to represent “not just one party; I’ll represent one nation.” He described his “record of accomplishment,” telling the crowd that, “as you know, I started a business,” referring to private equity investment firm Bain Capital.

Romney also cited his experience running the Salt Lake City Olympics and his tenure in Massachusetts, where he had to work with a Democrat-led Legislature.

“We didn’t fight each other,” Romney said. “We came together and looked for ways to solve the problems.”

If Romney is elected – “When I’m president,” he said yesterday, eliciting applause and chants of “Three more days!” from the crowd – he said he would help small businesses grow, open new trade markets and cut federal spending.

If Obama is re-elected, Romney said, “you’re going to see four more years of gridlock.”

Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith yesterday said that Romney “can’t be trusted to work across the aisle as president because he’s never done it before.”

“Despite his claims in the final days of this race, Romney refused to work with Democrats as governor,” Smith said in a statement issued after the rally. She said Romney “will never bring ‘real change’ – just the same failed policies that created the economic mess in the first place.”

“The people who want to see a change in the country are exceptionally energized,” said David Bancroft, 49, of Boston. He’s been talking to friends about the election and is “still working on one,” whom he thinks he’ll sway.

“A lot of people are unhappy” after voting for Obama, Bancroft said. “Some of them just need to be more comfortable with Mitt Romney.”

Meghan Mistretta, 39, of Hampton Falls, voted for Obama in 2008 but decided to vote for Romney out of concern for the economy.

Mistretta said she had been disappointed in Obama’s leadership. “I really expected he was going to reach across the aisle, and he really didn’t,” she said.

Glenn and Cinda Capone of Fitchburg, Mass., said the rally motivated them to encourage others to vote.

“I’m just going to say, ‘You just got to get out there,’ ” said Cinda Capone, who is 53. “I talked to my sister last night. She and her husband weren’t going to vote.”

Glenn Capone, 57, said he’s excited for Tuesday, although “it is going to be close. We know it’s going to be close.”

A full slate of Republican politicians spoke before Romney at the rally, including Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, U.S. Sen. John Thune from South Dakota, U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee, and former Missouri senator Jim Talent.

Also speaking were New Hampshire U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte and U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta, and Republican gubernatorial candidate Ovide Lamontagne.

HOT OFF THE PRESSES!!!
Iran SUSPENDS nuclear program due to sanctions!
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/401225/20121104/iran-nuclear-tehran-sanctions-ahmadinejad-israel-netanyahu.htm
LOL!
Mitt cries “FOUL!” in 3… 2… 1…

Dave Listerzxcv wrote:

11/06/2012

Robert Reich on Romneyism (and I am really looking forward to the day when I can forget that name):
http://robertreich.org/post/34910261055
"By now, in these last remaining days before the election of 2012, we have learned enough about the beliefs of the Republican presidential candidate to see them as a worldview all its own – a kind of creed that explains Mitt Romney. Those who say he has no principles are selling him short."

BunnyHopzxcv wrote:

11/05/2012

My guess is if the election is close, the left will demand a recount.
I am hopeful it will not be close. I have faith that the lame stream media has in fact cut their own throats. They are relying on 2008 turnouts and they are giving the impression that the President is ahead when he is not. So for me that means that many Dems will think they do not have to vote. Traditionally Dems have a lower turnout in elections.
The Reps are taking this election seriously and are voting on the economy and jobs.
The left has also ignored the independents. I mean the true independents that vote for the best person, not for a certain party. The black vote also has been taken for granted by the Dems. They have ignorred the unemployment rates and they also have ignored the fact that many blacks are religious and anti gay marraige.
So there could be another shellacking because the left has ignored key voters. That is my hope.

BChasezxcv wrote:

11/04/2012

The GOP are getting desperate. Mitt is spending millions on misleading ads and and harassing robocalls throughout swing state, and it's backfiring on him. Mitt you were against the US auto bailout from the start, you want to cut funding for education and abolish the Dept of Education and Pell Grants for high school seniors, you want to phase out Medicare and replace it with vouchers, you think Social Security is an entitlement, and you are even against funding for FEMA, calling it "immoral". That's nonsense!
Mitt, you haven't been honest with the American people, and we have yet to hear how tax breaks for the wealthy and 2 trillion in defense spending is going to help our nation's economy...If you're lying to the voters now, what more if you become President? It's time to send you home, and re-elect President Barack Obama.

Grammyzxcv wrote:

11/04/2012

I am going to the Romney Rally at the Verizon Center tomorrow night. I am really excited. I bet Romney didn't have to bus in supporters like Obama did today.

TakeTheCountryBackzxcv wrote:

11/04/2012

You are one of the lucky ones, I hear that the rally is sold out and they could not fill over 11,000 requests for tickets. Did you see the rallies today in Iowa, Colorado and Ohio? SRO crowds and people could not get in.

mikenhzxcv wrote:

11/04/2012

Let me get this straight, Mr. Romney thinks he is a "bipartisan" man?
Would this the same "bipartisan" man that while governor of Massachusetts vetoed over 800 bills sent to his desk by a Democratic-majority legislature?
And was this same "bipartisan" Mitt Romney in which that same legislature so thoroughly disagreed with his vetoes that in over 700 instances a 2/3 majority of the legislators overridden Mr. Romney's heavy-handed vetoes?
But, I guess if you are that type of person willfully ignores the inconvenient truth that I mentioned, may I have an opportunity to sell you a prime piece of real estate, in the form of a bridge in Brooklyn?

TakeTheCountryBackzxcv wrote:

11/06/2012

Think about that for a minute. He was governor for over 4 years and he vetoed 800 bills. Do you think that there is really a need to legislate 200 new laws, programs, initiatives each and every year. That is four new laws, regulations, rule, etc. per week.
If we need to pass 800 bills in 4 years then legislators are playing politics. 800 bills, don't you think that is ridiculous.

SCOzxcv wrote:

11/04/2012

I hope Romney does not get assassinated when he gets elected. The level of death threats are unprecedented. Obama supporters threatening to riot if he loses. It's always the progressive liberals who incite violence and try to kill presidents. Keep Romney safe!!!

TakeTheCountryBackzxcv wrote:

11/04/2012

You know, that is a good point. Expect the losers on the progressive side to do everything that they can to "obstruct", claim racism, infer that people were disenfranchised and on and on. I would not put it past some on the fringe Left to go over the top and turn to riots and violence.

Dave Listerzxcv wrote:

11/06/2012

I recommend you start getting your info from more than just the rar right sites on the internet. Your opinion of your fellow Americans is both insulting and cartoonish.

gran8staterzxcv wrote:

11/04/2012

Lets Roll, NH voters lets get our the vote for a true leader, Mitt Romney. We need to put an end to Obama's reign of failure.
During election day if you see voter fraud going on please call this: The hotline number is 603-715-6355. It is the New Hampshire’s U.S. Attorney, voter hotline to reports voter fraud.